“What’s the Egyptian word for Hare?” Not the usual opener to a telephone conversation, I grant you, but less of a surprise than you might think. Nick is finally writing his book. We had been talking about it earlier over coffee before he got up. I had congratulated him on the thirty thousand words he has written over the past few weeks. “Thirty seven thousand,” he corrected. My son never has been one to do things by halves and he book is progressing at an astonishing rate.
I haven’t read it yet… I’m not allowed. I have, however, read other things he has written and know it will be an interesting, and probably inspirational, read. It can’t be otherwise really, given the odds against him being able to write it at all.
The screwdriver that left him brain injured passed through those centres occupied with personality, language processing, memory and the executive functions that permit all kinds of organisation. The secondary injuries from the bleeding inside the skull and the swelling damaged his body, leaving him with severely impaired co-ordination and eyesight, even after the remarkable recovery he has made. His speech, too, was affected.
So for Nick to be organising his thoughts and memories, expressing them in an articulate and interesting manner and drawing conclusions from them, is astonishing. That he has found a way to write when all the physical abilities involved in doing so have been damaged is also remarkable. Yet he has… and the past few weeks have seen him create a large proportion of his book and get it down in words at a faster rate than most writers I know.
At a time when many of us are still taking stock of our lives as we face a burgeoning year, Nick is forging ahead at an enviable rate with a very clear vision of where he wants to go. At the same time, he is looking back; neither clinging to the past nor to the emotions it raised at the time, but looking back and taking stock from a position of interested distance… and that distance is allowing him to clear up the foggy mixture of emotion and reaction that the past usually leaves with us.
The problem we have is that our memories are based on the perception we had at the time of an event. Memory takes no account of anything we may have learned since, though it may be overshadowed by subsequent events. You have only to think back to one of those teenage moments that made you cringe at yourself, to feel the hot flush of shame… even though your older, wiser self knows very well that it was just one of those things, unimportant in the grander scheme… and certainly not worth agonising over decades later! One part of your consciousness is still stuck in remembered emotion, while the other might, if you are lucky, smile indulgently at the folly of youth.
To consciously revisit and examine such moments allows them to be put away in the proper ‘file’ of past experience from which, perhaps, we have learned. To revisit them objectively from a place of greater awareness and armed with a wider knowledge of events than the tight focus that was ‘you’, allows a clearer view, not only of the events themselves, but of the journey between that led from there to here, then to now.
And Nick’s journey has been a hell of a ride 🙂
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
I always enjoy mother and son talks. My son calls and brings up the skies, day or night, sends me photos of bugs and wonders, plus his children, Sue. 🙂
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They are special moments, Robin 🙂
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Nick’s progress continues to amaze. I’m stunned by the speed at which he has able to get his book underway. He’s like a ball of pure energy.
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That’s not a bad description… Though a streak might be more apt… He’s one of those rotten folk who can eat without getting fat 🙂
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Oh, I’ve heard about people like that. I can’t say I’m one, sadly.
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Me neither… yet both my sons are as bad 😦
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I look forward to hearing about his book!
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I’m looking forward to reading it 🙂
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Now that’s a book I don’t want to miss!
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Me neither, Barb.
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Looking forward to reading Nick’s book. Wow! You have an amazing son, Sue.
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He’s getting on with it, Michelle… I”m rather looking forward to being permitted to read it too 😉
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That’s great that Nick’s book is coming on so well. He’s one in a zillion!
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He is, Jean … and the world can be duly grateful 😉
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Looking forward to Nick’s book! 🙂
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He says it is coming on well 🙂
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I look forward to being able to read Nick’s book. Do you think you’ll be allowed to read it before it goes to print?
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Put it this way, Mary, if I receive my copy while he is on the way to the airport for a long, long trip, we will be having words… 😉
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He is a living miracle. I’ll be you can’t wait to read his words. ☺
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That depends … 😉
Seriously, I am so proud of what he’s doing here 🙂
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He is an extraordinary person – what an achievement! You must be so very proud 🙂
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I am … very proud, Helen 🙂
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he sounds really focused, Sue. Fantastic.
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He is, Mick, absolutely focused.
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SUE, NOT ONLY IS YOUR SON NICK A MIRACLE – HE IS A VERY TALENTED WRITER! GOD BLESS AND MAY 2016 BRING HIM HIS FIRST BESTSELLER!
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I rather think he’ll do okay, Michael… he really does have a story to tell 🙂
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He’s amazing and I do love his blogs and comments 🙂
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I’m hoping he’ll be more active on his blog once he has finished driving his book forward 🙂
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I think we should start calling him THE AMAZING NICK, instead of just Nick. 🙂 Because he always amazes!
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I call him quite a few things 😉 Usually in retaliation … 😉
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😀 I’ll bet you do!
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He get’s his own back 😉
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The human spirit is a fine thing.
Go Nick!
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He is, Julian 🙂 I believe he is about done already… first draft at least 🙂
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Reblogged this on Nick Verron.
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Nick’s book is going to be a winner. He inherited writing genes from his Mum, and her prowess is incontrovertible. Go Nick!
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I was allowed a quick glimpse today. I think he’ll do well 🙂
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You have One amazing Son Sue.. and his spirit us remarkable.. 🙂
Blessings to you both.. Sue
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Thank you…I have two of them, Sue, both in their own way… though one stays quietly in the background 🙂
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🙂 a credit to you.. ❤
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I think so 🙂
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I bet that is going to be one great book! 🙂
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I think it might be, you know 🙂
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Reblogged this on Barrow Blogs: and commented:
Memory and emotion go hand in hand, I think – perhaps that’s inevitable, Sue?
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If it doesn’t touch the emotions, it gets immediately filed away in memory as unimportant… everything is in there, but only emotional experiences remain near enough to the surface, I think, to access them readily.
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Nick is still a great inspiration to others but with your help and encouragement he’s come on in leaps and bounds in a relatively short time. I guess this is going to be a heck of a book to read.
xxx Massive Hugs xxx
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I rather think it might be, David. xxx
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Nick is amazing. And now we know why he’s been so quiet, secretly crafting a book! 🙂
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First draft done. He’s into the editing now. 🙂
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Unbelievable! 🙂
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Not when you know my son 😉
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I’m only getting to know him. And I know he exceeds all expectations! 🙂
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Determined, stubborn, focussed… 😉
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Reblogged this on Musings on Life & Experience and commented:
All the best to Nick in 2016.
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Thank you for reblogging, Suzanne’s!
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An amazing story within a story.
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My son has a heck of a story to share.
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With that kind of injury and his recovery I am sure it is a heroic story
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His recovery has been remarkable, as has his determination to overcome the limitations imposed upon him.
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Sue, inspirational! It is often those who for whatever reason ‘cannot’, do! Bonne courage et bonne chance!
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And they hold up a mirror of possibility for the rest of us. Merci, Lea!
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Bien sur! 🙂
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🙂
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I read most of this on Nick’s site. I noticed in his comments that he’s finished the first draft! Amazing. He clearly has a lot to say. How wonderful that you both share the joy of writing 🙂
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This is a first for Nick, not something he would have thought of doing once upon a time… It is surprising what good can come from horror.
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